Puppy Love Stained Glass Night Light

When my nephew Ryan and his wife Jennifer had their first baby, Julia, I made for her a night light.  It was a teddy bear with a blue ribbon around it's neck and holding a red heart. Cool...

This past summer they had their second little girl, Victoria.  I wanted to make a night light for her that was comparable, but different.  I found a pattern of a puppy with a tennis shoe in it's mouth, and voila! 

Puppy love. 

Jennifer was interested in the process involved, and guess what,

I just happened to take some pictures along the way!

Here is my design, and the pattern after tracing it with carbon paper onto half of a manila folder, which I cut out and glued to the glass.  Then I cut the glass to individual pieces......

...and grind them to their exact shapes.

 I wrap each piece with a strip of copper foil,
 which has an adhesive backing. 

After burnishing, this foil is what the solder flows on,
to hold everything together.

 Now I tack it all to the pattern to keep things in place while I solder.

Next I apply some flux to the seams,

which helps the solder flow smoothly, and solder...

          You'll notice that their is a tab at the puppies feet...

             this goes in the slot of the wooden base of the night light.

I also used black glass cabochons,

 which are rounded on the top, for the eyes.

There's alot of washing after soldering to remove all the flux and finger prints.

I am also prone to finishing most solder with a dark patina,
 instead of leaving it shiny silver...that's just how I like it.

Sweet dreams!

Feel free to leave a comment!.....please? 

And do come see what's new in the shop...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/newmoonglass